Dances With Words announces new schedule, grant

UMW News Bureau

Sept. 13, 2011 marks the start of the University of Montana Western English Department’s Dances With Words 2011-2012 series, which will include a April reading by author Jamie Ford, whose appearance is made possible through a Humanities Montana Opportunity Grant secured by the Montana Western English Department. UMW NEWS BUREAU
Sept. 13, 2011 marks the start of the University of Montana Western English Department’s Dances With Words 2011-2012 series.
Paul Lindholdt, Ph.D., of Eastern Washington University, will be the first reader of the series on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in The Cup, the university coffee shop located on the lower level of the Swysgood Technology Center (STC).
Lindholdt will be reading from his recent book “In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau.” Lindholdt will also take questions about his work after the reading.
“In Earshot of Water” details the wilderness and wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. Lindholdt’s publisher, the University of Iowa Press, states Lindholdt writes with “the precision of a naturalist, critical eye of an ecologist, the affection of an apologist and the self-revelation and self-awareness of a personal essayist.”
October’s Dances With Words guest reader will be Michael Czarnecki, a poet from New York state. He will appear at the Cup on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Czarnecki has worked with children in numerous schools and has also led many poetry and writing workshops for youth and adults across various venues. Additionally, he and his wife have run Foothills Publishing since 1986. The small publishing company is a family operation helping to print the works of poets who have met publishing obstacles.
November’s Dances With Words guest poet will be Bernard Quetchenbach, Ph.D., of Montana State University-Billings. His appearance at The Cup will be on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Quetchenbach’s most recent collection of poems is “The Hermit’s Place.” This is Quetchenbach’s second set of poems, which are narrated by a fictional hermit. The book’s publishing company describes the work as “writing that manages to be both homespun and eerie in its descriptions of a quaint yet potentially nightmarish isolation.”
Quetchenbach will read from “The Hermit’s Place” and “The Hermit’s Act,” the earlier edition in the series.
This year’s series will also include a featured reading by author Jamie Ford on April 26, 2012. Ford’s appearance is made possible through a Humanities Montana Opportunity Grant secured by the Montana Western English Department.
Ford’s ancestry includes a great grandfather whose given name was Min Chung when he immigrated to America from China. He later adopted the name William Ford.
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” is Ford’s acclaimed first novel. It deals with the conflict between Chinese and Japanese Americans during the time of the Pearl Harbor bombing. In the novel, Ford’s young Chinese protagonist hopes to prevent his Japanese friend from being sent to a Japanese American internment camp.
Ford is currently working on a second novel, which should be released by early 2012.